seriously. has this been the longest winter on record? now, i enjoy snow. i actually LOVE snow. it reminds me of when i was little and we lived next door to my best aunt patty and my cousin nick. since we lived so close to each other, nick was always more like a brother to my sister laura, and i. the 3 of us played outside every day, and when it snowed, we had even more fun. the three of us would set up huge sled runs between our yards. aunt patty loved snow too, and she was always outside playing with us. my mom would be inside mixing up the hot chocolate.we would stay out in that snow for hours. one year, we set up this fabulous run - seriously, it was olympic worthy. it started at the top of nick's front yard, which was a pretty steep hill that aimed downward to his driveway. there was then a small strip of snowy land that separated his driveway and our driveway. after crossing our driveway, the sled immediately flew down another steep hill that was our front yard. well, this particular year, i got the brilliant idea to pour water on the run and make it even slicker. we were flying down that hill. on a good run, we would slide all the way into the neighbor's yard! those were fun days.
we would sled for hours until our fingers and toes were totally numb. aunt patty played outside with us the entire time. i don't recall anybody shoveling their driveways too quickly either. my mom and aunt patty purposely left snow in the driveway for us, i think. some of my best memories are those snowy days sledding down the hills when we lived next door to aunt patty and nick.
during all this snow this winter, i have wished my aunt patty was here to help build great sled runs and my mom would be inside making the hot chocolate. the best hill for my boys is our driveway, and i purposely don't shovel it so that they can sled down it. i'm not sure my neighbors share my excitement, as they are up before the sunrise most snowdays to snowblow their driveways. it kind of makes me sad. snow days allow us all to be kids again, and the longer the snow is on the ground, the longer those days of childhood stay with us. so if you come visit me after a snow, don't expect a plowed driveway, but you can expect a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows and whipped cream.
